To Be Free
by Fallen Star93
Summary: Neji couldn’t help but feel curious as to who the young woman was. NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto.

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**To Be Free**

**Chapter 1 : Sights and Meetings**

Neji was in Sasuke's office drinking brewed coffee while discussing issues to their latest mission. All was going well, although their conversation only included short sentences as both were not a fan of words. They were both enjoying the peaceful silence in the office until there was a sounding knock at Sasuke's office door. Both pairs of eyes were now gazing at the unopened door.

"Hn," was the Uchiha's reply, giving the person some sort of reply which was close to a yes in this context, that is.

The knocking stopped for a while, but then started again as if waiting for a proper answer. The young Uchiha gave an irritated sigh, mentally rolling his eyes. He had a hunch of who this person was. After a whole minute of the annoying knocks, he finally gave in.

"Come in."

Neji was somehow amused and annoyed at the same time. This person must either be wanting to face the wrath of an Uchiha or must be missing a brain and am a total idiot. The door opened to reveal a young woman, roughly about his age with hazel nut eyes that were so deep. Her chocolate coloured hair was up in two buns, held by pins. She wore a white Chinese styled shirt with twin red dragons twisting at the bottom right of her sleeveless shirt, matched with a pair of a three quarter baggy pants. Neji mused that she must be some normal citizen looking for a job or something. However, nothing can escape the Hyuuga's eyes. He knew she probably did some sort of training as he could vaguely see the slight muscles the girl had. Sasuke looked up to meet her brown orbs.

"You know, you really should give a full answer so people can understand what you mean. Don't expect everyone to know what 'Hn' means," the girl said with a grin plastered on her face.

Sasuke just gave her his trademark smirk. Neji on the other hand, was wondering why the Uchiha hadn't snapped at her because of her comment.

"Anyways, here is the file for your next mission, Tsunade-sama asked me to hand it to you," she informed, throwing the thick blue file to Sasuke, which he caught flawlessly.

Neji arched an eyebrow. Did she just throw the file at Sasuke? She must have some guts. He looked back to see the said Uchiha's expression but he was looking at the girl with a smirk. No irritation whatsoever. Maybe they had some sort of relationship going on, like maybe they were childhood friends or something. Neji couldn't help but feel curious as to who the young woman was.

"Tenten… do you want to join us for coffee?" the Uchiha suddenly offered her, motioning at Neji and himself.

Tenten. That was her name. Neji tried repeating her name in his mind and found out that he quite liked the thought of it. Was she going to accept his offer? He knew that no woman had ever rejected him.

"Sorry, would like to but I can't. I have to get ready for a mission. But thanks anyways, Sas," she smiled apologetically.

Said Uchiha scowled slightly, hearing her use the nickname he did not like. But his scowl slowly turned into a smirk.

"Next time then, Ten?"

Tenten puffed her cheeks, she so did not like him calling her that. Really, it was embarrassing. She knew he was teasing her, the way he said 'Ten'. It reminded her of the time when one of her friends got drunk and tried to molest her, calling her 'Ten' as if to seduce her. She scoffed at the memory, then smirked. She had pinned the guy to the wall with her daggers she hid in her clothes and broke his arm before he could even touch her.

"Yup, promise. Later then," she waved at Sasuke, then turned to look at Neji for the first time. She gave him a small apologetic smile for disturbing their time, then left the office.

Neji had actually frozen when she had smiled at him. She was actually very beautiful, though he wouldn't admit it out loud. He mentally shook his head, then turned to Sasuke. He mentally figured out that she was probably a _Raveren_, just like them.

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Preview of Next Chapter

"You can keep it. Take it as my gift to you. And besides, it suits you," Tenten told him with her eyes sparkling.

"But I thought you said that – " Neji was interrupted by her small laugh.

"Well, yeah. But you are an exception."

She smiled at him and reached forward…

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A/N : They are working as assassins in a company which is undercover as a magazine publisher. They are called 'Raverens' and are probably feared by everyone. I didn't know what to name them so I just used Raveren.


	2. Chapter 2

**To Be Free**

**Chapter 2 : Gift**

Neji had not seen the intriguing girl ever since that incident, and he was getting slightly annoyed at himself for feeling disappointed at not being able to see her. He wanted to have a chat with her, he found her to be quite interesting.

Neji sighed noiselessly and shook his head. He has got to stop thinking about her. He has only met her once and yet he can't seem to get her out of his mind. He continued on walking towards the direction of the training room, a stimulated room designed for training the Raverens in combat in whatever situation. He needed to keep his mind focused and training was the one thing he enjoyed most. He turned a corner and bumped into someone. He quickly reacted and caught the person by the wrist and pulled him forward to prevent him from falling. He mentally thanked the Lords for his fast reaction as a result of training with Gai. He looked down and pearl white clashed with hazel brown. Oops. Her.

Now that he thought of it, the wrist in his hand was too small and smooth to be a guy's. Neji didn't really relish physical contact with anyone, especially with the opposite sex. But strangely enough, he didn't seem to mind holding her wrist. Her wrist actually felt like it was designed to fit in his palms. He was suddenly aware that he had been holding on to her wrist longer than necessary and quickly released it from his grip. Damn, he missed the touch of her skin.

"Oh, sorry I didn't see you. And thanks," her sweet pitched voice bringing him out of his train of thoughts. He just gave her a brief nod to show that he didn't mind.

"Are you busy at the moment?" she asked him.

Neji thought on that question for a moment. He was actually going to train, but that could wait. And besides, he wasn't doing anything.

"No."

She immediately beamed, a smile stretched on her face.

"Great! Can you help me? Lee is gone on a mission right now and I need a hand."

Neji pondered on it for a while, then nodded, seemingly content with being able to help her. He would also be able to learn about her without damaging his pride by asking the Uchiha. She gave him another smile and beckoned him to follow her. She led him to a part of the building he had never been before and turned to the left to reach her office. There was a silver plate on the door that stated 'Head of Weapons' Research Office'.

"Come on in."

Neji entered her office, looking around. It looked normal, there was a set of cream coloured sofa, a glass coffee table, her desk and a few other deco. Everything looked normal, what could she want help with? She then walked towards the back of her desk and scanned her tag at the scanner located next to the bookshelf, then inserted a pass code. The book case moved to the left, stairs seeming to unfold downwards. She began to descend, Neji following her. He then found himself in a room full of all types of weapons, and some that he has never seen before. There were guns, knives, swords, daggers, spears of all sorts. He was really amazed.

"As you've seen just now before we entered, I'm the head of the Weapon's Research Department. I'm also known as the weapons' mistress in this building. My job is to make and develop weapons for the missions you guys go on, but some of the unique ones are for myself." She seemed to smile as she explained her job. "The weapons I make are of my choice whether to keep or give them. But I rarely give them, only to those close to me. And besides, they are my treasure." She turned around to face him.

"I'm Tenten. And you are?" she looked at him with her wide hazel eyes and extended her hand.

"Hyuuga Neji." He accepted her hand and shook it firmly.

"Well then, Hyuuga-san. Nice to meet you. Here, can you hold this for me? I need to see how fast it opens to make sure its ready for the real thing." Tenten gave him a long blade with twin dragons engraved in the hilt. The blade was so sharp and finely carved, it looked like it could slice through anything. And it was light too. Neji then saw her grab hold of a thick blade, which looked too thick and heavy to use for battle. She then walked a few metres away from him.

"Okay then. I want you to attack me with that blade I gave you, and don't hold back. You can start anytime you want." Her voice, serious and clear.

Neji watched her close her eyes to focus. He waited for a few seconds then charged at her, blade upright and ready to attack with a downward slash. Tenten's chocolate eyes snapped open as soon as he moved and she ran a finger down in the middle of the hilt and the blade split into two. So that was the secret of the blade. She held the twin blades, one in each hand and brought them up diagonally so that it made an 'X' shape just in time to block Neji's slash. She then quickly spun around while connecting the two blades together again and tried to attack him with another downwards slash. Neji quickly changed the position of the – his – blade in time to block the slash. He could feel the weight of the twin blades brought back together pressing down on his blade. Neji was impressed. The blade could act as a defense and offense, and could also surprise the enemy. Tenten then lifted the blade and settled it on the table nearby.

"Well, I guess it's a success then. By the way, your movements are really fast. Good reflexes too. Thanks for your help," she commented, smiling at Neji.

"Aa. You're not so bad yourself." He was actually rather surprised that the comment came out of his mouth. He was rarely impressed by others and here he was, giving her a compliment.

He looked at the blade in his hands. He liked it personally, it felt like it was forged to fit his hands. He then looked at Tenten and made a motion to hand her the blade.

"You can keep it. Take it as my gift to you. And besides, it suits you better than me." Tenten told him, her hazel eyes sparkling.

"But I thought you said that –" Neji was interrupted by her small laugh.

"Well, yeah. But you are an exception."

She smiled at him and reached forward, taking the blade from his hand. Neji's eyes widen in surprise but Tenten just gave him a playful wink.

"Watch carefully."

She gripped the hilt of the blade then swung it in a full circular motion and pressed the eye of the dragon engraved in the hilt. The blade immediately descend into the hilt, making it look like a beautiful piece of metal that looked like a deco.

"It's a secret. This way, you won't need a sheath and, you can bring it around without catching anyone's attention."

She then put it back into his palm and enclose his fingers around it. Her hands lingered there for a second longer, then pulled it back. Her touch was so gentle, it made him feel relaxed and craved for her touch. Which was a weird thing for him to feel. They were suddenbly interrupted by a buzz from the intercom. Tenten walked over to the intercom and pressed the button putting it on speaker.

"Tenten-san, Tsunade-sama is requesting that you meet with her in a minute. She also requests that you find Hyuuga-san as he is also involved."

"Which Hyuuga is it?"

"U-umm, Hyuuga Neji."

"Okay then, thanks for the message!"

Tenten then turned around to face Neji.

"Hyuuga-san, - "

"Just call me Neji."

She smiled at him then nodded.

"Okay then, Neji. So, wanna go see Tsunade-sama?"

"Aa." Damn, his name sounded good coming from her lips.

She then turned and began to walk towards the stairs. Before she ascended, Neji quickly said something softly.

"Thanks."

It was so soft that Tenten almost missed it. She gave a small laugh that made the Hyuuga's mouth quirk upwards slightly. He felt weird doing that but felt at ease. He had not smiled in a long time.

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Preview of Next Chapter

"Well, hello there. I believe we haven't met before. You know who I am, might I inquire as to know your name?"

He took her hand and gave it a kiss, but Tenten could feel him caressing her hand in a perverted way. Neji was pissed at the guy. He could see that the man wasn't looking at her, but rather eyeing her body with his eyes filled with hunger.

"My name is Tenten. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled sweetly at him and gave him a wink. He was smirking slightly and did not seem to bother at all about the fact that she had her other hand linked to Neji's arm.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm so sorry for the late update, I've been very busy with the exams. Anyway, please review and Im sorry if there are any mistakes. Thanks!


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